TO HALVE & TO HOLD:Michael Fleming needs to sell his 50 percent share in this Bay Shore, LI, house — but his mother will still be living there and the buyer can’t move in. (
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A house divided cannot stand — but it can be sold.
A tangled bankruptcy has put half of a Long Island grandmother’s home up for sale — setting up a bizarre legal quagmire that can’t be sorted out until after her death, sources said.
Joan Fleming, an ailing 81-year-old widow, lives alone in the modest $300,000 ranch house in Bay Shore that she has called home for decades.
She bequeathed her house on Lombardy Boulevard equally to her two children, but the estate-planning move went horribly wrong when her son Michael, 49, a former mini golf course owner, declared bankruptcy in April.
To satisfy the court, Michael’s share of the property was placed up for sale this week and is expected to be auctioned off to the highest bidder on Oct. 7 at a local hotel.
It may not be smooth sailing for a winning bidder, though.
One of the conditions of the sale is that Joan has the right to live in the house alone until her death.
And sources say any buyer who bought Michael’s share of the home could not move in — even after his mother’s death — without reaching a deal with his sister on payment of an outstanding $66,000 mortgage.
If they can’t reach an agreement on the mortgage, the buyer would have to litigate in order to sell the home, the sources said.
“It is unusual, but in these economic times, people do what they have to do,” said one of Fleming’s neighbors, who asked not to be named.
Michael Fleming’s bankruptcy lawyer, Eric J. Stern, said it was “unusual” for the federal bankruptcy court trustee to try to sell half a house, especially one with an unpaid mortgage and allegedly low equity.
“Whoever buys this, buys a lawsuit,” said Stern. “It’s fascinating but it doesn’t add up to much.”
Auctioneer Richard Maltz can’t even tell potential buyers how many bedrooms or bathrooms the home has because he can’t get in.
“We haven’t been inside — we don’t know,” he said.
Stern said that Michael’s sister is free to bid on her brother’s share at auction. She could not be reached for comment.
Michael Fleming declined to comment and his mother could not be reached.